Realizations
by Jasper6509
Summary: After Tony saves Captain Americas life, his own life hangs in the balance. While Steve waits for Tony to recover he must realize some things about Tony and the Avengers.
1. Sacrifices

*I don't own any of the characters!

Summary: After Tony saves Captain Americas life, his own life hangs in the balance. While Steve waits for Tony to recover he must realize some things about Tony and the Avengers.

Realizations

Captain America walked up to Stark Industries. He was here to talk to Tony about the Avengers. They needed a leader and Captain America thought it should be Tony…the rest of the Avengers thought it should be him. So it was with a conflicted mind that he walked into the building and up to Pepper Potts. Pepper turned and smiled at him.

"Hi Steve, Are you here for tony," she asked.

"Yes, I'd like to talk to him about the Avengers," he answered. Pepper almost looked relieved.

"Well follow me Captain America," she beckoned him. On the way to Tony's office Pepper told Steve about her concerns.

"Tony needs a distraction Steve. He's been immersed in paperwork and meetings non-stop for three weeks now. I feel like he's going to work himself to death," Pepper confessed her fears.

"I'm sure he's just wanted to take a break from everything for a little bit…after the Skrull invasion and all," Steve explained. Underneath he was worried though. He had heard from both Pepper and Rhodey that Tony would work on projects without rest or sustenance for however long he thought was necessary. Approaching the office, Pepper knocked on the door.

"Come in," the Tony invited them in. Steve noticed that Tony sounded sick. Pepper walked in, followed by Steve. The sight before his eyes scared him. Tony looked both paler and skinnier than the last time they had seen him.

"Tony Steve is here to talk to you," Pepper said.

"Sorry…can't talk. There's a meeting at 'Tech Corps' with Janus," Tony said, practically ushering them out the door.

"Tony I just want to talk about the Avengers and…," Steve was cut off by Tony.

"There's nothing to talk about Steve," he said, cutting off the rest of his sentence. They arrived at the lobby with Steve still trying to talk to Tony. Steve's attempts to talk to Tony were cut off as a man came near them. He stopped and immediately Steve noticed something wasn't right.

"Can I help you," he asked carefully.

"Why would I want help from you traitor…you tried to sell our planets to aliens! You need to pay," the man shouted. He pulled out a gun and fired it twice. Steve was ready for the impact…but not for someone pushing him out of the way.

He landed on the floor and jumped up to tackle the gunman to the ground. He heard Pepper scream in anguish and fear. Looking over, his heart dropped. Lying in a growing pool of his own blood, Tony had two bullets holes in his chest.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Aftermath

*I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!

Steve paced back and forth nervously in the hallway. As he waited to hear about Tony's condition, he could do nothing but replay the scene in his head.

_After Steve had seen what happened to Tony and dealt with the gunman, Pepper had called 911. Within minutes the paramedics had arrived and rushed Tony to the hospital. Handing the gunman over to the police, Steve watched as they whisked him away. Pepper slowly walked up to Steve. "Would you accompany me to the hospital please," she asked quietly. "Of course, we'll take my motorcycle," he offered. Arriving at the hospital in a few minutes, they had found out that Tony had been taken to surgery. _

Right now Pepper was asleep in a chair off to his right. She had worn herself out worrying over Tony and had fallen asleep. She had seemed so exhausted that Steve had not the heart to wake her. However he himself could not rest…not after what had happened. Why had Tony pushed him out of the way? Steve knew that the gunman was one of the many who still blamed him for something an imposter did. But that didn't explain why Tony had taken those bullets for him.

"Steve," a voice said. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the approaching Avengers.

"We heard what happened…how's Tony," Wasp asked as she flew towards his face.

"He's still in surgery…I hope we'll know something soon," Steve replied.

"What of the gunman," Black Panther asked.

"I handed him over to the police…he can't hurt anyone now," Steve answered. All other questions were cut off as Tony was wheeled out of the OR and past them. Wasp flew over to Pepper and woke her up. She saw Tony and immediately bolted upright. Tony's appearance scared them. He was intubated and looked extremely pale. A doctor came up to the Avengers as Tony was wheeled into a nearby room.

"How is he," Pepper asked.

"Mr. Stark's injuries were quite severe. The first bullet punctured his left lung and cracked a couple of vertebrae in his spine. The second bullet fractured two of his ribs…one of which pierced his gallbladder and the other rib had nicked his liver. He lost a lot of blood during the surgery. We patched up the liver and the lung… removed his gallbladder and put small rods in his back to help align his spine. He'll stay on a ventilator for now and we've got him on blood supply to help his body heal. We've also decided to keep him in a drug-induced coma until he's more healed," the doctor explained.

"Thank you doctor," Pepper said.

"If you wish to see him…one at a time please," the doctor said as he walked away.

"You should go first Pepper," Hawkeye said. She nodded and numbly walked into his room, shutting the door behind her. The Avengers watched through the window as she sat down next to him. Clasping his hand, she laid her head on top of it and let the tears fall. She sobbed until she tired herself out again. The Avengers just stood outside…all thinking the same thing. Would Tony make it out of this?

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Questions

Questions

All he could feel was pain. It radiated all over him. He wanted to call out…find someone that could end his pain. Opening his eyes slowly, he looked around the room.

_Great…I'm in a hospital_ he thought dryly. Someone next to him gasped in surprise.

"Tony…you're awake," the voice said. Tony recognized the voice as Pepper's.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pepper had gone to go find the doctor to ask him when Tony should wake up. It had been two weeks after the shooting and the doctors had taken Tony off of the ventilator and taken him out of the drug-induced coma.

The doctor had said that Tony should wake up in the next couple of days. Seeing him awake right now was joyfully overwhelming, especially after she had just talked to the doctor.

"Oh my gosh…Tony," Pepper said. She opened the door and shouted out to the other Avengers.

"He's awake…get the doctor," she told them. Minutes later the doctor walked in and Tony wondered if he really _was_ a doctor.

"Hello Mr. Stark, I'm doctor Soren. Do you remember what brought you here," he asked. Tony slowly shook his head 'no'.

"You saved Steve Tony. He was about to be shot by some guy but you pushed him out of the way," Pepper explained.

"Where's Steve," Tony asked frightened. He didn't know if the gunman had tried to get at him again or not.

"Steve's fine. He's outside with the other Avengers," Pepper reassured him.

"We'll let them in one at a time, but first…how much pain are you in Mr. Stark, on a scale of one to ten," the doctor asked.

"Ten," Tony answered.

"All right then…I'll have a nurse come in with some pain medication in a couple of minutes. We can also allow you some guests," the doctor said, scribbling some things down. After the doctor left, the first guest in was Janet. She flew over and landed on Tony's hand.

"It's good to see you're okay. We've all been worried sick…and trying to get Pepper to go home and actually relax was tough," Janet said. Tony looked over at Pepper accusingly.

"You were hurt and I didn't want to leave you alone…you had us all worried," Pepper explained.

"Where's Steve," Tony asked Janet.

"He's outside. He's been really worried over you. I think he blames himself because you got hurt," she explained.

"Send him in please," Tony asked.

"I don't know…he seems really upset and I think bringing him in here might make him feel even worse," Janet said.

"Tony you need to let Steve realize on his own that it's not his fault…plus you just woke up from a two-week coma, you need to rest," Pepper commanded.

"Fine. But Janet, please tell Steve it wasn't his fault. It was my choice and mine alone," Tony said. Janet nodded and flew out of the room. A nurse came in and gave Tony some morphine. Tony's body slowly succumbed to the drugs and he fell into a deep sleep.

Pepper looked over at Tony and then over at the engagement ring on her finger. Would her fiancé be the same after this whole incident?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Janet flew over to the other Avengers and told them that Tony had fallen asleep again and they could see him again tomorrow. She then flew over to Steve and landed on his hand.

"Tony said to tell you that it wasn't your fault…it was his choice and his alone," Janet said. Steve turned to walk away and left Janet fluttering in the air. Steve needed to clear his head of all these questions, so he just kept walking.

Why would Tony take those bullets for him? Why didn't tony understand that he only got hurt because of him? Did tony not see that the gunman had been aiming for himself and that Tony didn't needed to protect him?

Steve supposed her would have to talk to Tony later, but for now he wanted to be alone.

**I'm sorry I've taken this long to update. I thank any of you who are still following this story.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Author's Note

A/N:

I don't know if this is allowed but I've seen other authors leave these author notes as chapters…so here we go. I have decided to take a temporary hiatus from this story because of MAJOR writer's block. I will post a new chapter as soon as I can think of where to lead this story. If any of you have any ideas for further chapters…feel free to review or PM me.

~~~Jasper6509 :)


End file.
